The New Deltora Quest: The Lake of Tears
by BrunetteGirl2010
Summary: Everyone knows what happened in 'The Forests of Scilence' right.This is what I think should happen in 'the Lake of Tears.' A new character comes along and well...you'll find out. DISCLAIMER: I d not own any of the Deltora Quest characters or storylines


**The New Deltora Quest**

**Book Two: The Lake of Tears**

The sun was setting and Lief, Barda, and Jasmine walked together on the road through a dark forest on their way to the Lake of Tears. Animals lurked I the bushes and behind trees, but they weren't dangerous. When they entered this dark, gloomy forest, Jasmine told them that this was a good forest.

"We have nothing to fear here," she told them. "It is dark, like the Forests of Silence, but it has a good heart.

When at last it was time to settle for the night, Lief took the first watch. After Jasmine and Barda were asleep, Lief was left alone.Even Cree and Filli were not awake to keep him company.As tired as he was, he wanted to sleep.But he didn't . It was too dangerous and an enemy could come at any time. But his wyes were so heavy.So then, by accident,he closed his eyes.He felt a blanket being placed over him, but he didn't open his eyes.He assumed that Jasmine had woken up to take her turns watch, seeing that he was asleep.He assumed that she would take her turn and let him sleep.

That next morning when the sun was high and warm rays shone down on his face,what broke through his dreams and awoke him was a scream.he thought that their camp was being intruded by enemies.When he opened his eyes, he saw his companions safe. But there was an intruder, he saw Barda restraining a girl, that was about the same age as Lief, and Jasmine holding a dagger to the girl's throat.He looked to the ground to see Kree and Filli chattering wildly to Jasmine, but she didn't listen to them. Barda held in one hand both of the girl's arms and in the other a tiny brown fox. That squeled in pain.

"Let Kya go, Barda.You're hurting her." The girl cried.

"How do you know my name?" Barda asked. "I do not know you."

The fox squealed again. Filli and Free jumped on Barda and nipped him several times until he let the small fox go. She landed on the ground and the girl yelled. "Run, Kya. Go into the trees. Don't worry. I'll find you." The fox ran into the trees and was gone.

"How do you know Barda?" demanded Jasmine. By now Lief was standing beside Jasmine and Barda restrained the struggling girl with both arms.

"I know more that just your names, Jasmine." The girl said breathlessly, she had been struggling against Barda for too long. Lief know she was tired.

"Remove your hold on her." He said to Barda, who looked at him numbly then nodded and let go.

The girl fell to the ground and looked up at Lief. "You are the carrier of the Belt of Deltora."

She looked at Jasmine and said, "You are the orphan girl from the Forests of Silence who killed Gorl."

"And you," she said turning her head back to look at Barda," You are an ex-guard of the last king of Deltora."

She began to giggle and she added, "The funny thing is, you spent the last 16 years disguised as a beggar."

"Who are you and how do you know these things?" Lief asked her.

"I'm Jade." She told them. "This forest is my home. Don't underestimate me, I see the past, present, and the future."

She looked down and closed her eyes as she muttered. "I've seen more than you know. I've seen things that you couldn't even imagine. I've seen things you couldn't even dream, even in your nightmares."

Kree and Filli began to chatter again at Jasmine. "Kree says……"

"He says that you can trust me." Jade continued for her. "And Filli says you should ask for my forgiveness resulting in how rudely I was treated."

"How do you know that?" Jasmine asked. "Do you speak to growing things, too?"

Jade nodded and added, "And I am also an orphan, like you."

Jade then smiled and said, "And I forgive you. I understand your worries. This quest you're on, it's not safe to trust a complete stranger."

"What does that make you?" asked Barda.

"An Ally." Answered Jade standing up and dusting herself off. "I can show you the precise place where each gem is hidden and I can hide you away in a safe place when danger is near."

"In other words," Lief put in, "You will act as our warning and our guide."

Jade nodded.

"Why can't you simply tell us where each gem is and where enemies are?" asked Jasmine.

"There are rules. I can only tell you so much." Jade told them. She looked at her hands and added. "If I break the rules…."

She stopped. Clearly there was something she didn't want to speak of.

Lief took a good look at her. She was slim, with black, silky hair that came to her waist, huge green eyes, a radiant face, and a bright smile. She looked a little like Jasmine, but older and more womanly. He wondered if Barda, and even Jasmine noticed.

Kree and Filli went up to the new companion, "Thank you for standing up for me and for going to Kya's rescue."

She faced the direction where the little fox disappeared. "This reminds me. I need to call for her. She didn't go too far." She put her thumb and index finger in her mouth and whistled. "Don't worry. There's no enemies around that would have heard that."

In a matter of moments, the tiny brown fox that was Kya ran out of the forest to Jade. She cradled Kya in her arms and asked, "So, are you going to allow me and Kya to join you? I can tell you a little about what's to come."

"Yes, you can join us." Lief told her.

"This will be very interesting." Barda commented.

Jasmine nodded hesitantly. She didn't like the idea of having Jade around, but Kree and Filli sure liked her. They chattered with happiness. Though she felt that way, she thought that she could become friends with the newcomer, eventually.

"Jade,"Lief said as they were getting ready to move on, "you don't have to worry about telling us anything."

"It's alright, Lief. I'll be happy to help." Jade replied. She was standing on the tallest branch in a tree, high above them.

Jasmine climbed to the branch under her and looked up, "How long have you been in this forest, Jade?"

"We are very much alike, Jasmine. Like you, I have spent most of my life in a forest. It was seven years ago, my parents were taken by a

troop of Grey Guards." Lief and Barda looked up at her in surprise. "I was only nine years old, and it was the first time I saw the future. I

saw their fate, but they refused to believe me. They thought I was playing a game." She sat down and looked at Kya who was cradled in

her arms with her long tail wrapped around Jade's forearm. "I used to live somewhere else, but I can't remember. The Guards were coming to take my parents from this direction, through this very forest. When the day came, I traveled here to this forest to stop them, but they caught me. Half went to retrieve my parents and the other half restrained me in chains. They cried and begged for them to release me, they did but not until after my mother was murdered right in front of me, but my father was still alive. They took him to the Shadowlands. I don't know if he is dead, like my mother. Seeing it in my mind was bad enough, but to see it in reality was ……I had to see it happen twice. The next morning, after I woke up from where they pounded me on the head so I couldn't follow them, I had this." She held out her hand and inside it was a gold locket. "I can't open it, so I don't now what is inside. I don't remember anything before that day."

"You're right Jade." Jasmine said still looking up at her. "You and I are alike. My parents were taken when I was seven, which was seven years ago. They were taken by Grey Guards one day from the Forest of Silence. I now know my mother is dead, but whether my father is or not, is still a mystery. I don't remember anything before that either. The only difference is I didn't get a locket."

Jade smiled at this joke, and held Kya close to her as she jumped off the tree and landed lightly on the ground.

Jade is much more skilled than Jasmine. Lief thought. Maybe when Jasmine is older she'll be more like Jade. She can jump higher, run faster, climb and balance better than Jasmine. Jade is only about a moth or two younger than me and Jasmine is only fourteen. They seem so much alike and their stories are almost the same. 

They walked in almost silence, the only noise was Jade's humming. She was humming a lullaby to Kya who was curled up in her arms. Kya was such a cute little fox. She slept with her tail over her nose and her ears perked up to hear the sweet lullaby, which was so sweet, Filli and Kree began to fall asleep on Jasmine's shoulders. When the song was over, Kya, Kree, and Filli, were all in deep sleep.

Lief, Barda, and Jasmine smiled.

"It was the lullaby that my mother sang to me when I was a child. It makes Kya fall to sleep easily, so I sing it to her every night. She loves it and by the looks of it, so do Kree and Filli." Jade whispered and breathed a little laugh.

"I think Kya is adorable," Jasmine whispered back. "Is she an infant fox, or is she just small?"

"Both," Jade answered. "You should have seen her when I first found her in the bushes only a few moths ago. Ever since she came to live with me, she's grown so much."

About an hour later, when they stopped for the night, Jade woke Kya and Jasmine woke Kree and Filli so they could get their share of food. When Kya opened her eyes, she yawned and Jade smiled at her. That night, they would all sleep with warm hearts. As usual Lief took the first watch. He could not fall asleep this time. Then he remembered, Jade, she had watched over them while he was asleep. Not only that but she was kind enough to put a blanket over him so he wouldn't be cold.

He looked over at her, she was the closest to where he was sitting and she was lying on her side, facing him, with her hand under her cheek. Kya curled up next to her and the little fox put her head on Jade's arm. She didn't have a blanket. Lief stood and took his blanket off his shoulders and put it over her. She breathed deeply and didn't stir. Lief went back to the spot were he was sitting and looked up at the stars. He wondered about her.

Her story is almost the same as Jasmine's, but Jasmine's parents were taken away from The Forests of Silence when she was seven. Jade's parents were murdered by Grey Guards when she was nine. But Jade said herself that she didn't actually see her father die, she saw it happen in her mind and left her previous home, which she doesn't remember, and tried to stop them. This all happened two years apart and so are their ages. Jade is two years older. I don't understand….and I possibly never will.

Soon it was Jade's turn to take watch. Lief didn't even have to wake her up. She opened her eyes and yawned. She looked at the blanket over her and asked, "What's this for, Lief?"

He smiled. "You put a blanket over me when I was asleep without one, so I did the same for you. I didn't need it anyway. I also noticed you don't have any belongings. Why is that?"

"Well," she answered, running her fingers through her black silky hair, shaking it. "I don't have any belongings. All I own are the clothes I'm wearing and my locket."

"What would you do if you were to get hurt? You have no bandages to heal yourself with." Lief asked.

"Don't worry about me. I can easily avoid injury, but when I do get hurt, I just bear it." Jade replied.

"What if it could be a life-taking injury? What would you do then?" Lief asked.

"I would die. Even if I did have bandages." Jade answered.

She's even as quick talking as Jasmine. He thought to himself. Still, she doesn't need to take care of herself that way. She definitely needs to learn how to take care of herself better. We need her healthy and strong, because of her abilities.

He looked at her.

"I can't read you mind, Lief." Jade said almost laughing. She quietly moved away from the sleeping Kya and sat next to him.

"What can you do?" he asked her.

"I see the past, the present, and the future." Jade answered as if she rehearsed it. "There are rules though, I can't purposely see anything or tell someone too much of what I've seen. If I break the rules…"

"What happens, Jade?" Lief asked.

Jade looked away, but he turned her back to him. "What happens, Jade? I might be able to help you."

"No one can help me." She answered.

"Tell me." Lief demanded trying to keep his voice down.

"My life-span shortens." Jade answered.

Lief was shocked. "Have you ever broken the rules?"

Jade didn't answer, her face turned red. She shook her head.

"Alright then," Lief said. "Are you sure you should be taking watch? You look like you have a fever."

With her permission, he put his hand on her forehead. He was right, she was burning up.

"It's alright Lief," Jade said. "I've been getting them a lot lately."

Hesitantly. Lief let her take watch. He wondered how long she's been ill. He was worried, but he couldn't help her if she didn't want to be helped. There was nothing he could do, for now at least.

He lay down. If an enemy took one step towards our camp, Jade will know. I her condition, it could possibly weaken her abilities.

He looked up at her. She smiled and began to hum her mother's lullaby. In moments, he was asleep.


End file.
